A Whole New Family
by Padawan Jess Kenobi
Summary: Sirius goes to spend Christmas with James and Lily, who are married. They tell him there is to be a new addition to the family, and Sirius gets very, very excited... A cute little fluffy fic. Please read and review!
1. Chapter 1

_Title: A Whole New Family_

_Author: Padawan Jess Kenobi_

_Rating: a few swear words here or there_

_Summary: Sirius goes to spend Christmas with the married James and Lily, and they tell him that there will be a new addition to the family, and Sirius gets very excited… Fluffy little story._

_I sort of already wrote this story earlier ("Forever and Ever") but I was re-reading it a while ago and was a little disappointed that it was so short and didn't go into Sirius' excitement further, and so I decided to sort of re-write it, and so this story happened. :D_

_Disclaimer: I wish I was J.K. Rowling…_

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James was rooting through an old box filled with ornaments to put on the Christmas tree, when he heard a knock on the door. A smile broke out on his face as he put down the box and moved towards the door. The knocking changed from the random rapping of the door, to the practiced tune of "Jingle Bells."

James laughed and opened the door to be met with the sight of his best friend, Sirius Black. His motorcycle was parked on the lawn – Lily would be less than pleased about that- but James didn't care at the moment.

"Jamesy boy!" Sirius said cheerfully throwing him a charming grin, and stepping inside the house, his boots trailing snow on the rug. His ear-length raven hair was covered with snow, and the warmth of the house started to melt the snow immediately, so his leather jacket was starting to get wet.

"Padfoot!" James cried out just as happily, as the two best friends embraced and patted each other on the back. "How are you?"

"Fantastic!" Sirius answered, taking out a few packages from under his jacket. Three were boxes wrapped in bright red paper, and another one was a box of cookies. "One is for Remus when he comes, and these are for you and the missus," he said with a wink, handing James the presents, "and the cookies are basically for me."

James laughed and placed the gifts on the table next to the couch, and nodded towards where Sirius could put his wet coat on a hook near the door. Sirius took the jacket off, revealing a dark blue sweater underneath that complimented his lean frame.

"Really in the Christmas spirit, huh?" James said sarcastically, motioning to his clothes.

Sirius tossed him a charming smile, and took two objects out of his pocket. "That's why I brought these," he said, taking out a Santa's hat and a set of furry reindeer antlers. He put the hat on his own head, and bounded across the room to place the antlers on James' head.

"Very funny, Padfoot," James said, but couldn't hold back a laugh.

"That's what I thought, stag boy. So what are you up to? Where's the lovely Lily? LILS WHERE ARE YOU? SIRIUS HAS ARRIVED!" he shouted into the air, looking towards the kitchen and around the room as if she were hiding.

"She's out running a few errands, but she should be back within twenty minutes or so. I'm just trying to set up these bloody ornaments before she comes home."

Sirius smiled at him, "so you got rid of the chick so you and old Padfoot could have some alone time, did you?" he said with a wink. "You sly dog," he joked.

"Yeah, that's it," James said sarcastically, giving his friend a playful punch on the shoulder.

Sirius laughed and kneeled down next to the box, and started to root through them. He held up a particularly hideous one of what looked to be a crushed house, and raised an elegant eyebrow at James questioningly.

"Yeah… I might have dropped the box a few times trying to bring it here," he said elusively.

Sirius' eyebrow was still arched disbelievingly.

"… And then I might have tripped and fallen on it," James said with a wince.

"Mmmhmm," Sirius muttered knowingly. "We can fix this," he said, his face lighting up with the idea. He took out his wand, pointed it towards the ruined ornament, and muttered a spell. Instantly the house turned into a little figurine of James- complete with his Quidditch robes, square glasses, and messy, untamable hair.

"Merlin, Sirius, that's beautiful," James said with a smirk, as he looked at himself in mini-form.

Sirius grimaced upon looking at the James figurine, and made a show of almost tossing in the fire. "I dunno what you're talking about mate, that's the ugliest thing I've ever seen," he replied cheekily, avoiding James' swat to the head.

Sirius tossed the transformed ornament to James, who walked over to the tree, and looked at it critically, wondering where to put it.

"Stick it somewhere in the back!" Sirius hooted in the background, and James looked at him with mock anger, though he couldn't hold the expression for long. He selected a promising looking branch right in the middle of the tree, and placed his likeness there. When he turned around to face Sirius, his friend had already transfigured two other ornaments into mini-replicas of himself and Lily.

The little Sirius was almost as stunningly good-looking as the real one was; right down to his aristocratically high cheekbones, and firm jaw-line. He was wearing a tiny leather jacket and jeans over his favorite boots, and a smile played about his face. The real Sirius grinned at the duplication of himself, and sighed lovingly as his midnight-blue, nearly gray, eyes twinkled in the firelight.

"Now THAT, dear Prongs, is beauty!"

James rolled his eyes and snatched the ornaments away, though he looked at the one of Lily before putting it up. She was nearly as pretty in doll form, with her long, shining mane of red hair, and enchanting emerald green eyes. He put the mini-forms of his wife and best friend on either side of him, equally apart, for they both meant the world to him.

Sirius was watching where James would place the ornaments secretly, though he pretended he wasn't looking. He felt a wave of emotion sweep over him as he saw James place both him and Lily on either side of him, and was strangely relieved when Lily wasn't physically any closer to James than he was.

He looked back to his work when James turned around, and produced two more replicas, one of Remus and one of Peter. And just for fun he added a dog, stag, rat, and a wolf. He was satisfied when James put all the new ornaments up, and patted his friend on the back.

"Can you make another one?" James asked him slyly, though Sirius was too engrossed in his work to notice.

"Sirius can do anything, haven't you learned this already? What do you need? Maybe one of old Snivellus? That'd be sure to kick up the mood a notch," he said with a laugh.

James chuckled in response, but his voice grew almost serious when he spoke next. "Make one a baby boy," he said softly.

"Sure thing, Prongs," Sirius said distractedly, already searching through the box for another hideous ornament to transform. "A baby it is… a… wait, why do you want one of a kid?" Sirius looked up in confusion, a question he barely allowed himself to consider floating in his eyes. "James…?"

"Because well… Lily is pregnant," James said, biting his lip as he waited for Sirius' response.

However Sirius seemed to freeze, a particularly broken ornament laying in his half-opened hand still. James started to get concerned when ten seconds passed without a response from his friend. Never mind a response, Sirius wasn't even breathing.

"Uh… Padfoot?" James questioned anxiously. Maybe this was a bad time to tell him…

"I… you… YOU'RE GOING TO HAVE A BABY?" Sirius shouted, and James winced at the level of his voice.

"Yeah, well…"

"YOU BASTARD!" he yelled as he got to his feet, "I can't believe this, I can't believe…. JAMES YOU'RE GONNA BE A DADDY!" At this he started to run around the house, and James watched him, his face half amused, half worried at the health of his friend. He got up slowly, so as not to alarm him, and Sirius froze at his movement.

"JAMESIE!" he shouted, bounding over to his best friend and throwing his lean yet muscular body through the air in what could have passed for an impressive football tackle.

James groaned as he hit the ground, with Sirius sitting on his chest. "Sirius… crushing… lungs… can't… breathe…" he spluttered, gasping for breath.

"I don't fucking care!" Sirius barked into the air, laughing joyously, and a bit insanely. "You, James Potter, are the Master of all Bastards, and you're going to have a baby! A BABY!" he started bouncing on his best friend's chest eagerly, ignoring James' grunts of pain.

Sirius suddenly jumped off of James, and yipped in excitement a few times, running around the room in ecstasy. James watched him with a steady smile growing on his face. He started to sit up slowly, when Sirius stopped jumping, caught his movement, and looked at him, a dangerously excited glint in his eye.

"Oh shit," James groaned, guessing what was going to happen again.

"BABY MAKER!" Sirius yelled in excitement as he sprinted full on at James, who only had time to widen his eyes in the acceptance of pain as Sirius hit him again and they fell on the floor once more in the same position as before, with Sirius bouncing on his chest once more.

The front door opened, and a gust of wind spread through the warm house before Lily Evans closed the door behind her. She took her scarf off, allowing her long red hair to fall freely about her, and looked down at the boys on the ground, a bemused expression on her face.

"Cheating on me with Sirius, James? Is this what happens every time I go to the store?" she said mock seriously, though she couldn't hold back a laugh at the scene.

Sirius immediately leaped off of James, ignoring his "oof" of pain, and ran to Lily. "LILS!" he yelled, picking her up in his strong arms and twirling her about as she giggled in delight and shrieked for him to put her down.

"Sirius, what the-" she started to say, when Sirius cut her off.

"BABY, BABY, BABY!" he cried, pointing to her stomach, and when James made the mistake of walking towards them, Sirius jumped on his back in a show of poorly restrained exhilaration.

"So I can assume you know about the-"

"-baby, yeah, he knows," James answered wryly, supporting the weight of the lean, yet built Sirius on his back.

"Lily, you beautiful, wonderful creature, you're having a baby! This is fantastic, this is great… this calls for booze!" Sirius exclaimed, jumping off of James' back.

Lily opened her mouth to say something, but Sirius cut her off once more. "None for you, Lils!" he said, an expression of horror on his face. "We want the little guy to grow up nice and strong and handsome like his Uncle Padfoot, not demented looking like daddy James!" he laughed, and hugged them both again.

Lily giggled along with the exuberant Sirius, and James tried to maintain a sour expression at being called "demented looking" but Sirius' sheer joy and vitality knocked the look right off his face and he smiled over at Lily.

"He seems happy enough," she said dryly to James, who nodded and motioned to Sirius, who seemed to be doing a little dance.

Sirius finally calmed down a few minutes later, and stopped bouncing about excitedly. He replaced the Santa's hat properly on his head, though by some miracle it had stayed on throughout his whole show of excitement. He moved closer to James and Lily, and put a serious expression on his face. "Um, congratulations," he said stoically as he saw the married couple stare at him with bemused expressions on their faces.

James grinned at his best friend and Lily giggled again. Sirius' cheeks were flushed slightly red, partly from the heat and from the dancing and running about, and his hour was tousled underneath the red hat, though it was very becoming. Sirius threw an arm around James' shoulders, and the other around Lily's waist, and pulled them both to him. He rustled James' hair affectionately, and Lily put her head on Sirius' sturdy shoulder. They stayed like that in silence for a few moments, neither one of the couple able to see the expression on Sirius' face fall a little bit as he got to thinking.

The baby would take up all of their time. He had seen it happen to people before, they became so busy with a new baby that it was like nothing else in the world existed except for that little bundle of joy. Soon James would no longer have time to hang out with him, and Lily might not tolerate Sirius' frivolous ways around her house with the new kid. They would spend all of their time together as a real family and… Sirius' heart seemed to tighten… the baby would replace him in the family.

Sirius' uncharacteristic silence worried Lily and she pulled her head away from his shoulder long enough to sneak a look at his face. His stoic jaw was tightened, and his eyes seemed to have changed to a dark, stormy gray. "Sirius?" she whispered, frightened by his sudden change of mood.

He looked down at her, and tried his best to smile. It was dazzling, his grins always were, but there was no joy behind it this time. She looked over at James, who had caught her eye, and he too looked at Sirius, noticing his strained expression.

"What's wrong?" Lily asked him, but Sirius just shook his head, strands of his silky hair falling into his eyes from under the hat.

James removed his shoulder from Sirius' grip, and stood in front of him. Sirius returned his head to its normal position, with his chin slightly higher in the air than most people, and with the fire cackling behind him made him look quite regal.

"Padfoot?" James said softly, and Sirius looked down at him. James could see the turmoil in his eyes, and as his own hazel orbs met Sirius', it was as if he could read his best friend's mind. There were unshed tears in his eyes, tears he knew that Sirius wouldn't let fall unless he could hold them back no longer, for his pride was a very important thing to him, and it took a lot to make the Black cry. There was uncertainty also, and questions swimming in his sharp eyes.

James knew exactly what was bothering Sirius, and he smiled a little to reassure him. "Absolutely not, Sirius," he said, his voice strong and sure. "You were my best man, remember? That's a title that you will have forever. You've been a pain in my ass since first year… that's 9 years of you harassing me, I'm not letting you off the hook that easily," James said, relieved when Sirius' jaw began to unclench and the familiar smile started to slowly grace his lips again.

"The baby will take up almost all of our time, yes, but I want you there for every moment of it." He looked at Lily, and she nodded as if they had discussed something earlier, and she was giving her final approval.

"Padfoot," he began, looking at his friend seriously, "we want you to be Harry's Godfather."

Sirius froze and felt the breath hitch in his throat. He felt wetness come to his eyes, but he didn't care about his pride anymore. "You want… me to be his… to be his Godfather?" he repeated dumbly.

"There is no one else in the world I would rather have," James said with a smile, and Lily nodded her approval.

"For once there was no argument about it, I agreed completely," she said, but then corrected herself with a smile. "Actually, I made him promise not to allow you to take our baby up on your motorcycle no matter how much you begged, but that's about the only fight I put up when he suggested it," she said with a soft laugh.

Sirius grinned back; though it was obvious he was still in shock. "I can't even believe it… James, this is amazing. But why me? I'm not exactly the model person here, you know, and I think Lils will be pretty pissed if your kid grows up to be like me," he said with a small chuckle.

However, James didn't crack a smile at his friend's joke. "You may not be the most responsible person in the world; Remus would probably win that title. And of course I trust him with my life, as I do you. But the only person I could ever trust with the life of my kid is you, Padfoot. And if our baby turns out to be a quarter of the man you are, I'll consider myself the luckiest father in the world."

"Shit, James," Sirius said, his voice breaking, "you bastard… you're gonna make me cry," he said with a little laugh, but a tear really did fall from his eye, and he didn't even care to wipe it away.

"Wow James, that was almost as touching as the wedding vows you wrote for me. I always did think you should have married Sirius," Lily said with a cheeky smile at the both of them, who looked at each other quickly.

"Nah, our kids would look like horses," Sirius said with mock solemnity, before his expression really did turn serious again. "Really though, you don't know what this means to me, guys."

"So that means you'll do it?" James asked, looking hopeful.

"You know I've never been able to say no to you, Jamesie boy," Sirius said affectionately, grabbing the two of them again and pulling them close to him.

Lily clapped with joy, and reached forward to kiss Sirius on the cheek in happiness. Sirius beamed at them both, and Lily couldn't help but think she had never seen Sirius' eyes shine so brightly as they were right now. He was captivating in his happiness, and his joy was infectious, and she felt a laugh bubble in her throat.

"So is it fair to call you my theoretical brother-in-law?" she said, now just pushing her advantage and seeing if Sirius' grin could get any bigger. She marveled at the fact that it did in fact grow larger, and was amazed at the elasticity of his face.

"Lils darling, I knew there was a reason I liked you!" he exclaimed, as his feet left the ground and he threatened to do another happy dance. The couple was saved from his antics by a soft knock on the door.

Lily broke away as James and Sirius went to go answer the door. She took a look at the Christmas tree in the corner of the room, near the fireplace. The star on the top shone with light, and in the center of the tree were the mini-depictions of herself, James, Sirius, Remus, Peter, a dog, stag, rat, and a wolf. She smiled, amused at this, and guessed that it was Sirius' doing.

"That's cute," she said to them, motioning to the tree. "Creepy as hell," she said as an afterthought, as her own face stared back at her, "but cute."

Sirius tossed her a charming smirk over his shoulder as the two still had their arms around each other as James answered the door. Remus was standing on the doorstep, covered in snow just like Sirius had been when he had arrived at the house earlier. He too, had come bearing presents, though they were wrapped in green paper.

"Moony!" Sirius and James exclaimed at the same time, identical grins on both of their faces.

Remus took in their excited expressions, and Lily's obvious joy, and knew something had happened. Both of them rushed forward to hug him, and ushered him inside the house.

"Guess what, guess what, guess what!" Sirius chanted, jumping up and down again, barely able to hold in his excitement. "Tell him!" he said eagerly to James and Lily, gesturing about wildly. "James… they… Lily… TELL HIM FOR MERLIN'S SAKE!" Padfoot shouted, and the joy that exuded from him was almost enough to knock Remus back a step.

"Tell me what?" Remus asked, looking at all of their faces curiously.

"COME ON, COME ON, COME ON, GUYS!" Sirius yelled, his feet doing a little jig. "It's the greatest news ever!"

"TELL HIM! If you don't, I will! But you really should… you should… if you don't… TELL HIM!" Sirius' shouts were loud.

"Remus," James began excruciatingly slowly, as if to torture Sirius.

"Hurry up!" Sirius said impatiently, dancing from one foot to another.

"Remus…" James started again, but his next words weren't heard as Sirius shouted over them.

"BABY!" Sirius yelled, and the pure joy in his voice was the most beautiful sound in the world.

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**Please please review and tell me what you think!**

**A/N: This was originally supposed to be a one-shot, but if people like it enough (specifically: give me enough reviews) I could possibly write another chapter about Remus learning the news, etc.** ;)


	2. Remus comes along

You guys: seriously, thank you SOOO much for all the lovely reviews! They make me so incredibly happy, and I seriously appreciate all of who took time to tell me what you thought. You all are lovely people, truly! 3 :D I did decide to go ahead and try to write a second part. I'm not very experienced on writing more than one chapter, I usually stick to one-shots, but I gave it a try:)

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"BABY!" Sirius yelled, and the pure joy in his voice was the most beautiful sound in the world.

"Baby?" Remus repeated dumbly, not comprehending what was going on. 'Sirius… did you run a baby over with your motorcycle?" his confusion changed to horror as Sirius burst into maniacal laughter.

'Nooo, Moony!" He turned to James, pleading with him to just spill the news.

"Alright," Lily finally said with a laugh, "I don't think Sirius will live through the next minute if we don't say it. Remus…. I'm pregnant."

There was a silence as everyone turned to look at Remus' reaction. His eyes widened comically, and he opened and closed his mouth a few times, but no words came out. His head moved from James to Lily and back again a few times before he could speak.

"You… you and James? Baby?" He asked hoarsely as if he were very weak.

They nodded at him, while Sirius basically nodded with his entire body as he jumped up a little again as the excitement of the news began to hit him once more.

"This bastard," Sirius exclaimed as he grabbed James' head and messed up his hair with his hand, "in communion with the lovely Lily, will produce a child. A BABY, Remus, why aren't you celebrating?"

"I… are you serious?" Remus stuttered, an awestruck look on his face.

"I'm Sirius!" he replied cheerfully letting out another booming laugh over James' groan of protest about the overused joke on Sirius' name. "And that's Lily, and that's the son of a bitch who got her pregnant, and that," he said, his voice growing louder as he pointed to Lily's stomach, "will turn into a baby. A BABY!" he repeated happily.

"But… how?" Remus asked, still in shock.

"Well, Moony, when a man and a woman love each other very much, sometimes they like to do a little thing we like to call-"

Remus put up a hand to stop Sirius' cheeky answer, and instead looked at Lily for confirmation, as if he still thought this was a big joke. She nodded, a smile lighting up her face.

"Oh my… I can't believe it, congratulations!" Remus said, a smile starting to spread across his face. "This is great, this is fantastic, this is… this is wonderful!"

"Is that all you can say?" Sirius asked incredulously. "Our friends are having a child, and all you can say is that this is wonderful?"

"What do you want me to do, dance around like an idiot?" Remus asked, though his voice was cheerful and airy.

James cast a purposeful look at Sirius, who was looking back at him with innocence in his eyes. "We already had that covered, thanks."

"We need to celebrate! Moony, is that wine I see under your arm?" Sirius asked, and snatched the bottle from Remus before he could reply.

"The last thing you need is to drink, Padfoot," James said, though he rushed into the other room to grab some wine glasses for the drink and came back to see Sirius with the bottle under his arm and wand out in his hand.

James passed the glasses around to his friends and wife, and drew Lily close to him as Sirius muttered a spell to open the wine bottle. The cap flew off and the wine poured out of bottle as Sirius ran around to everyone, trying to get the wine into the cups. Everyone moved to drink, when Sirius called out commandingly, his voice stopping them accordingly.

"What the hell? Did you guys think I'd let you off that easily? Put your damn drinks down, I'm not done with you!" he said, his eyes dancing with mirth.

James, Lily and Remus all groaned, though none of them could stop the smiles that spread across their faces. Sirius jumped onto a maple coffee table, and Lily moved forward as if to stop him, but fell back in acceptance a moment later.

"Today we are here to celebrate the coming of a child. Actually we initially were here to celebrate Christmas, but Christmas is nothing compared to the news Remus and I got here today. I came here thinking that Lily would cook me a fantastic meal that would have me begging her to ditch James and marry me," he winked at Lily roguishly and grinned at James' glare.

"I also thought that Remus would bring that chocolate from Sweden that he promised me," continued Sirius as he paused to give Remus a pointed look, and Remus grabbed a package of chocolates he had thrown on the table earlier, and held it up. "Good man, Moony! And that James and I would just do whatever the hell we always do and have a good time doing it. Anyways, just this would have made a rather great day of celebration and joy and general festivities. But now, there is more! James, the Master of Bastards, and Lily, lovely, gentle and sweet Lily, have gotten together and produced a baby!

"We should have a moment of prayer… in hopes that the baby is actually mine and not James', and that he is saved and will come forth instead with my stunning good looks and silky hair," Sirius said with a laugh as he tossed his head back.

James moved forward to punch him in the shoulder, but Sirius deftly avoided the blow, skillfully managing to also not spill his wine, though it was a close call. Lily giggled, and wrapped an arm around James' waist.

"So now we toast the husband and wife. I remember that one day a long time ago, Jamesie boy, when you were particularly miserable about yet another of Lily's rejections, and I said to you, I said: 'one day you will make sweet babies with Lily' and so here is that day!"

Lily lifted an eyebrow and looked at James and then to Sirius. "You seriously said that?" she asked in amused disbelief.

"I can attest to that one," Remus said with a lopsided grin and a nod. "That was during our fifth year I think, after James did something particularly stupid, and you rejected him rather harshly. He was pretty depressed after that one, and Sirius was doing his usual cheering up gig, complete with a new pranking game plan, and lots and lots of chocolate frogs."

"I used to depress you so much that you would eat chocolate to make yourself feel better?" Lily asked with an amused smile, though she hugged James closer to her to show him she was just teasing.

James ran a hand through his untamable hair and shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly. "Nah, I just had a thing for chocolate in my fifth year."

"Yeah, that's why during February of that year, when you were being more of a prick than usual and in result she snubbed you more often, you gained seven pounds," Sirius said with his usual deep laugh.

James broke off from Lily again and threatened to hit Padfoot, but Remus chuckled and grabbed his friend around the shoulder to still him. "It's true, you know, you did get a bit of a stomach that month," he said trying to bite back his smile, and patted James in the belly.

James swatted his hand away in denial of his friend's words, and ignored Sirius' hysterical laughter in the background. "I did not!" he exclaimed indignantly.

He looked to Lily for support, but she was looking away, obviously trying not to laugh out loud.

"Anyways," Sirius interjected loudly, "we need to get back on topic, ladies, and we can talk about James' eating problems and his 'fat month' later if need be," he said with a wink, earning a scowl from his friend. "What we were discussing earlier was this wonderful event that will change all of our lives. This baby will be a wonderful addition to the Potter-Black-Lupin clan."

Remus raised his hand as though he was in school, and Sirius called on him solemnly. "Does that mean I have to transfer that whole last name to a potential wife?"

"Unless you want to suffer disgrace and expulsion, then yes, I would say that a potential chick would have to be willing to take the entire thing."

"Duly noted. Please do continue," Remus said with impressive seriousness, as he gestured with his hand.

"I guess I had better wrap this toast up, the wine seems to be going flat. Anyways, I just wanted to say that I love both of you very much, and I'm so happy for you. I can't think of a better family to be born into than yours," Sirius said, the laughter slipping off his face and turning into sincerity.

"Thanks, Padfoot," James said softly, looking at his friend.

They all clinked glasses solemnly, and took a sip of the wine. "Oh Merlin…. Moony, this is fantastic!" Sirius called cheerfully after taking another gulp. A sudden thought hit him as he gasped and looked over at Lily, who was taking another little sip of the drink.

"Lily! The fetus!" Sirius yelled in horror, pointing a finger at her.

Remus choked on the wine in his mouth, and Lily looked up at him with wide eyes amid James' hysterical laughter.

"The… fetus?" she asked, not sure whether to laugh or just keep staring at him, shocked that he would even use that word.

"You know, the _FETUS!_ The thing that is growing inside of you that one day will turn into your bouncing baby boy!" Sirius said slowly, as though Lily were stupid.

"I didn't even know you knew that word," Remus said in between gasping breaths of air as he struggled to breathe normally again.

Sirius looked at him resentfully, and rolled his eyes. "Of _course_ I know that word, Moony, who doesn't? And Lily, I told you, no alcohol while you are holding in you a little James! Do you want him to grow up to be a kleptomaniac drug addict or something?"

He said it with such concern and forcefulness that Lily couldn't bring herself to tell him that a cup of wine wouldn't completely deform her child. "You're right, I'm sorry."

Sirius looked at her and then his face broke out into a smile. "It's alright, Lily, you just made a mistake. Anyways, this toast is partially for you, so you have a right to celebrate. I think it's rather fair if we say that you can drink half of it, but then that's it for alcohol until the baby is born, don't you think?"

Lily stifled a chuckle, and instead just nodded with as much seriousness as she could manage. "Yes, I think that sounds perfectly reasonable."

Remus just shook his head and took another drink. He looked over James' shoulder and around the house, his eyes passing quickly over the fireplace, mantel, pictures on the wall, the Christmas tree…

He let out a yelp as his own face stared back at him in miniature on a branch in the middle of the tree. "What the hell?" he exclaimed, pointing at it.

James turned around to see what he was looking at, and laughed as he saw what Remus was staring at. "Sirius," he answered, as though that was enough of an explanation by itself.

"You don't like it?" Sirius asked; his lips coming together in a pout that would make anybody soften. He had used it so often during his Hogwarts years to get what he wanted, that he reverted back to it unconsciously. Lily felt an unplanned "aww" escape her throat as Sirius' handsome face bore the sad look rather well, and his eyes sparkled in the firelight.

"No, no, I like it! It's… picturesque," Moony replied hastily.

"Picturesque?" Jamaes repeated with a guffaw. "What the hell, Moony, you sound like an old woman!"

"The only reason I'm not going to kill you right now, James Potter, is because I don't want your baby to grow up without a father. If that wasn't the case, than you'd be so dead that it's ridiculous."

"Yeah, that's pretty scary, Moony," James retorted sarcastically. He next words were halted as a whooping Sirius ran across the room and grabbed the wine glass from James' hand, and downed what was left of it in a single gulp. James stared at him, and then back at his empty glass. "Was that necessary?" he asked his best friend, reaching his foot out the next time Sirius ran by screaming about the baby, and tripped him.

Sirius fell surprisingly lightly considering the surprise attack, and rolled over onto his back just in time to let out a breath as James sat firmly on his chest. "You… prat…" Sirius gasped as James grinned back at him.

"This looks familiar… what is that, Sirius? You can't breathe?" James said with a semi-evil laugh.

Remus shook his head and went over to stand next to Lily, who was looking down at the guys and rubbing her neck. "And how are you dealing with their affair?" he asked Lily with teasing seriousness.

"It's been hard," she said, though she had to forcibly will herself not to laugh. "I came back from the store today to find this very same scene, except that Sirius was on top," she said, though she giggled a moment later when Sirius managed to overpower James and flip him over onto his back, and then sat on James to secure him down. "Ah now, here they go again."

James and Sirius looked up at the same moment and yelled, their words almost incoherent as they talked over each other with load protests about them liking women and not having a secret affair. Remus and Lily laughed until Sirius got up off of James, and helped him up.

"Hey Moony, I'll bet you if I can pull of a perfect cartwheel that the baby will have Lily's eyes!" Sirius said a few moments later, after smoothing his hair down carelessly.

"I'll take that bet," Remus replied after a few seconds of consideration. "The conditions in this room aren't satisfactory for acrobatics, and there is a seventy five percent chance that you will misstep and hit that coffee table and fall down."

Sirius stared at him blankly. "Thanks for the support, mate."

"I'm with Sirius; the child absolutely must have my eyes," Lily said with a joking conceitedness, batting her eyelashes sweetly at her husband.

"I'm with Moony, just because I've only ever seen Sirius complete a cartwheel down a hill, and almost any idiot can do that." James said after, "though my eyes aren't bad either," he said in an undertone.

"You suck," Sirius said impishly, and stuck out his tongue at his best friend childishly. He got into position to start the cartwheel, pointing one toe in front of his leg. He pulled his jeans over his lean hips to make sure they were secure, surveyed the scene in front of him, took full notice of the looming closeness of the coffee table, and flipped. The world went upside-down for a moment, and it was righted again when he landed on his feet.

Lily jumped in the air and clapped happily, dancing in a little circle around James. "Our baby will have my eyes now!" she exclaimed just as joyfully as if Sirius' little bet was actually a reality.

"Lily dearest, I knew you always had faith in me," Sirius said with a charming grin at her.

"Lucky shot," Remus and James muttered at the same time as Sirius did an insane little victory jig right in front of them, amid their groans and protests.

He dropped to the ground in exhaustion a few minutes later, and his friends sat down with him. "This has been the finest day of my life," Sirius said sincerely after a while of comfortable silence.

"Despite the fact that you can be a prat sometimes, you are a total sweetheart," Lily said warmly to him, with a sweet smile.

James cleared his throat purposefully and pointed at himself. "Husband!" he reminded her and she smiled at him also, and leaned back into his arms.

Sirius reached over to grab Remus by his red sweater and pulled him closer to the group. He swung an arm around Remus and then one around James and bent towards him slightly.

"This is the best Christmas ever," he said softly, his grin more resplendent than all the Christmas lights in the world could ever be.


End file.
